Syracuse Basketball: Roy Williams begins change of ACC coaching guard

Over the years, Syracuse basketball head coach Jim Boeheim and Roy Williams have engaged in some really legendary match-ups on the court.

Williams, in a little bit of irony, revealed on April 1 that he would retire as the head coach of North Carolina after an illustrious career that includes three NCAA titles.

Prior to his trio of championships with the Tar Heels, Williams also put forth a stellar record while leading Big 12 Conference juggernaut Kansas. In total, besides those three NCAA crowns, Williams guided UNC and the Jayhawks to a ridiculous nine Final Four appearances.

Both Boeheim and Williams are Hall of Famers. Williams spent 18 stanzas as the North Carolina head coach, and another 15 at Kansas. He is third all-time in victories by a Division I men’s basketball head coach, with Williams’ 903 wins trailing only Boeheim and Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, another Hall of Famer with five national titles and a whopping 12 Final Fours.

In all honesty, while with the Tar Heels, Williams really owned Boeheim and the Orange, although the teams did split their regular-season meetings in the 2020-21 term.

In early March, the ‘Cuse notched a home conquest of UNC, and that helped catapult Syracuse basketball back into the conversation for a 2021 Big Dance invite. The Orange would journey to the Sweet 16 before falling to eventual Final Four participant Houston.

Syracuse basketball and Roy Williams have a history together.

Of course, we have to acknowledge here that while with Kansas, Williams faced off with Boeheim in the 2003 NCAA Tournament title game.

Boeheim got the better of Williams in that duel, however, Williams would go on to capture championships with North Carolina in 2005, 2009 and 2017.

And in a runner-up finish at the 2016 March Madness to Villanova, the Tar Heels and Williams crushed the ‘Cuse in the national semi-finals, one of five Final Fours that Boeheim has reached.

I have to admit that I’m a little surprised Williams is calling it quits. I’m a big fan of him, and I wish him nothing but the best moving forward. Williams is one of the head-coaching GOATs in this sport.

ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips said in part about Williams in a press release, “His resume of accomplishments speaks for itself. More importantly, the countless lives he positively affected surpasses all of the individual honors and awards.”

With Williams riding off into the sunset, for me, this commences the changing of the guard as far as iconic head coaches in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Over the next few years, I imagine that Boeheim and Krzyzewski will follow suit. College basketball will never be the same without these three legends, and the ACC landscape could certainly shift as a result.